


Blood Bank

by BearWithAHat



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Ancient Greek comedies lol, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Charles and pierre are Kevins greek chorus for a moment here sjsjsj, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, Friendship, Getting Together, Inspired by Music, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Theatre, Tutoring, blood drive, drama club, kmag is emotionally constipated, the summary is bad I'm so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25276585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BearWithAHat/pseuds/BearWithAHat
Summary: Kevin tries to navigate university and dealing with a drama club, an annoying blonde who he can't get out of his head, and his best friend getting a boyfriend.
Relationships: Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel, Marcus Ericsson/Antonio Giovinazzi, Nico Hulkenberg/Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly/Charles Leclerc
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32
Collections: Summer Break Fics 2020





	Blood Bank

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blueblue1965](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueblue1965/gifts).



> ohh goodness! It took me quite a while to come up with a good idea for this but one night I sat down and just came up with this story and ran with it :) I hope you like it, I had a lot of fun writing it!!
> 
> Both the title and part of the plot of this fic was inspired by Bon Iver’s ‘Blood Bank’ which is a song that I absolutely love :)
> 
> for reference, the drama club in this fic is putting on an Ancient Greek comedy called ‘The Frogs’. It isn’t that relevant to the plot so don’t worry if you’ve never read/seen it lol. I will add that it’s very funny though so if you’ve never read it, I would duly recommend.
> 
> the only drama experience I have is the god awful drama class I was required to take in school when I was 12 and so most of the things they do in this fit are from drama websites I perused or just shit I made up that sounded like something acting people would do lol sorry if there's any theater people reading this who are disgusted by that :0) 
> 
> I also utilized my rudimentary and cringeworthy German abilities here so if there's also any german speakers reading this I'm so sorry <33

Kevin was less than thrilled about the start of the school year. He hadn't been eager to start university in the first place, and his begrudging attitude towards it got more and more heavy as the summer went on. His perpetual mood hung over him like a cloud as he drove to the campus, where he would be staying for at least the next academic year.

"Lighten up a bit, Kev, I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think it will be," his best friend Marcus scoffed from the passenger seat. The tall Swede was slouched back in the seat casually, with a book in his hands and his glasses nearly falling down the end of his nose.

"That's pretty easy for you to say. You know exactly what you're gonna major in and what you want to do in life. I barely even know what I want to do tomorrow," Kevin complained as he turned into the sprawling campus. On the sidewalks, other students strolled about, some returning and catching up with old friends and others who were newcomers like Kevin and Marcus, bright eyed and about to dive in head first.

Autumn was beginning to creep into the world around them, the leaves of the trees lining the street beginning to redden and drop to the earth. Kevin wanted to get out and staple all of them back on if it meant he could go back to the summertime, where he at least was still at home and not about to begin school in a new town and with a bunch of people he didn't know.

"You'll figure everything out eventually," Marcus reassured him with his slightly uneven smile, "and I'll be right there beside you."

The only saving grace for Kevin was the fact that he and Marcus were going to be roommates. Starting university wouldn't be completely unbearable as long as he had his friend there with him; if he were entirely alone, Kevin was afraid that he might drown in it all.

There was no turning back now though, Kevin thought as he pulled into a parking space. One way or another, he'd have to get through the next few years.

He and Marcus walked together from the parking lot to the old brick building they were assigned to call home for the academic year. It was a bit drab and dreary, but Kevin wasn't exactly expecting the most glamorous arrangement on earth. Their room somehow seemed smaller and more cramped than it had been a week prior, when they had moved furniture and most of their belongings in. There was two beds, a closet for each of them, and a small desk with shelves above it on each side of the room. Privacy was practically nonexistent, and Kevin was glad that he was rooming with his best friend and not a total stranger.

“Did you get your final schedule yet?” Marcus asked, immediately sitting down and beginning to pull out binders, papers, and folders. The Swede insisted on labeling everything according to what class he would use them for, whereas Kevin wasn’t even half as organized as him.

“Yeah, they emailed it to me yesterday. All of my classes start in two days, except for that after school club thing we're required to take. I think it starts tomorrow," Kevin mumbled. He didn't get why students were required to take part in a club. If there wasn't anything that interested them, why force them to join one?

"Oh, right, the drama club. I nearly forgot about that," Marcus laughed, scribbling onto labels and sticking them onto office supplies alike, "at least it's not graded like a class. I don't think I'll make a very good actor."

Kevin sighed and flopped down onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. It felt weird to be in a new place and he didn't know what to do first. He figured he should try to be like Marcus and get things ready for his classes, so Kevin got up and tried to organize all his things in the desk drawers and on the shelves. He gave up after a while, figuring it didn't matter how tidy things looked as long as he could find what he needed.

The rest of the day slipped away with Kevin continuing to sulk, feeling homesick as he tossed and turned in bed. Marcus had drifted off to sleep quickly and peacefully, and the Swede's even breathing made Kevin feel bad about moving around so much, not wanting to accidentally wake his friend. He rolled over and grabbed his phone to check the time. Exactly midnight.

Kevin groaned quietly and turned over once more, pressing his face into his pillow and squeezing his eyes shut. Things really were going as he expected: not great and making him miserable. 

* * *

The next morning, Marcus had to gently shake his shoulder to get him to wake up. The Swede was already dressed and looked like he had been busy for a while, judging by the art supplies that lay out on his desk.

“What time is it?” Kevin yawned, kicking the sheets off and rubbing his eyes.

Marcus glanced at his watch. “Um, around ten. I didn’t know when you were going to wake up and it was getting a bit late.”

“Fucking hell Marcus, you could have woken me up earlier,” Kevin gasped. He was out of bed in an instant and blindly pulling clothes out of his tiny closet, ducking behind the door to get dressed in record time.

“Did you not sleep well?” Marcus asked. Kevin heard him putting pencils back into their case and stacking papers neatly together.

“Nope,” the Dane sighed, “guess I just need more time to settle in.” He kicked the closet door shut once he was dressed. What he was wearing didn’t match at all whatsoever, but Kevin genuinely did not care. 

“I'm sure you'll feel better tonight. Don't forget, we have that drama club today at three," Marcus called over his shoulder. Kevin frowned and wished that whoever made taking a club mandatory was having a bad day.

Most of the day passed uneventfully. Kevin went for a run at one point to clear his head, and Marcus worked on his artwork. For all the negativity Kevin had initially held when they first moved in the previous day, he was glad to discover that the showers in the communal bathroom were at least somewhat decent. He wasn't sure if he would have survived the year if he had to shower under weak water pressure after a workout.

The building that the drama club was supposed to be in was on the other side of the campus, and they had to nearly jog there to make it on time. Kevin was cursing his inability to keep up with Marcus' longer legs and gasping for breath as they climbed up the stairs. He didn't know what to expect from a drama club and had brought a notebook and pen with him, just in case there was note taking involved.

"Here goes our acting debut I guess," Marcus joked as he pushed the door to the room open.

They were expecting to be in a regular classroom but instead found themselves in an auditorium, which Kevin supposed made sense seeing as it was a drama club after all. Up on the stage stood a small group of people, two adults and the rest of them appearing to be students. There wasn't any organization or anything going on it seemed, so Kevin assumed that they weren't late.

Kevin followed Marcus up onto the stage, joining the other students who were milling about and chattering with one another. A group of three boys were giggling excitedly, a pair of them were whispering and giving sidelong glances to the other students, and another stood by himself, hands in his pockets and an easy smile on his face.

Once all the students were on stage, one of the men whistled for silence and waved his hands to draw attention to himself.

"If I could have everyone sit in a circle please, then we'll get things started," his friendly voice rang out. The group of students shuffled into a circle and sat down, with Kevin glued to Marcus' side. He was glad that Marcus had at least stuck by him for their club requirement.

"Welcome to the drama club! By technicalities my name is Professor Vettel, but I'd much prefer it if you called me Sebastian or Seb. This is my husband Kimi, and we both teach literature classes here," he began, gesturing to the stone faced man behind him who stood silently. Kimi didn't say anything and only gave a small wave.

"Just out of curiosity, does anyone here have any acting experience?" Sebastian continued, looking around the circle of students.

Nobody raised their hands and a few outright shook their heads. At least he and Marcus weren't going to be the two newbies in a group of theater people, Kevin thought to himself. 

"Ah, you're all starting from a blank slate then. This is the first year that we've had a drama club, so that's not entirely surprising," Sebastian chuckled, and Kevin got the feeling that maybe the club wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

"Our goal is to put on a complete theatrical production at the end of the school year. We'll spend these first few months practicing with acting and getting used to being on stage, and I'm thinking that we'll decide what play to put on by next month. If you've got any ideas, I'm all ears," he went on. 

The idea of being in a full length play sounded a bit less than appealing to Kevin, but he supposed he would just have to get it over with. He figured maybe he could be some minor background character if he had a choice in the matter.

"Let's go around the circle here and introduce ourselves. I know everyone hates doing that, but its good to at least know your fellow cast members names and a little bit about them," Sebastian said, "let's start with you over there."

It was just his luck that he pointed at Kevin to start, and the Dane felt himself freeze up at first. Marcus gently nudged him with his elbow and he figured that he should start talking before people thought he was weird.

"Um, my name is Kevin. I don't really know what I want to study and the only theater knowledge I have is from reading Julius Caesar in school," Kevin mumbled with a shrug of his shoulders. He felt a bit stupid for not coming up with anything better to say. 

"I'm Marcus, Kevin and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember," Marcus introduced himself with a smile, leaning against Kevin for a moment, "I'm a visual artist and I'm hoping to find a career in the arts someday."

Next to the Swede was a slim, posh looking boy with curly brown hair and a pouty look on his face. 

"I'm Charles," he purred in a rolling, fancy-sounding accent," I study architecture and dance."

Pierre sat next to him, a French biology student with a sweet laugh and his hand overtop of Charles'. The young couple were next to three rambunctious British boys, Lando, Alex, and George, who were like peas in a pod and Kevin wasn't sure if he found them charming or irritating.

Lastly was a tall blonde with a similar accent to Sebastian. Kevin liked to think that he was a good judge of character, and as faultfinding as it made him look, he didn't like him from the start. 

"My name is Nico, I study ancient history, and I'm great with dogs," the admittedly rather handsome boy said with a grin, and Kevin had never wanted to slap someone in the face more. He shook that thought from his head though and told himself that he shouldn't get into fights on the very first day.

The only person left who hadn't said anything was Kimi, who crossed his arms and sat peering over his husbands shoulder the entire time. When prompted to introduce himself, all he said was, "I'm Kimi, there's nothing else you need to know."

"Well then, it's nice to meet all of you. We had one student who wasn't able to join us today, so we'll have to meet him next time," Sebastian concluded. He went on to describe what each meeting of the club would entail, which took up most of the rest of the hour long meeting. By the time he was done explaining how they would prepare for their end of the year production, there was only fifteen minutes left until they were to be finished.

"I think we'll end things off today with a simple exercise to help break down some of those barriers between us and ease you guys into acting. I want everyone to partner up with the person sitting across from you and have a conversation," Sebastian instructed, "you guys will sit back to back and ask each other some questions. But, I want you to try to sync your breathing up with each other. You'll be able to feel your partners breathing pattern and it will make you more aware of your own breathing, even as you talk to each other. This can be quite tricky if you've never done it before, so don't get too frustrated if you guys struggle with it."

Kevin would have much preferred it if they got to choose their partners, as he would much rather have to make physical contact and talk to Marcus than Nico, who was sitting directly across from him and who he wasn't too keen on already. Marcus was paired up with Alex, one of the friendly Brits, and the two seemed to get on just fine once Seb told them to get to it.

With a sigh, he stood up and found Nico already coming towards him. He met him in the middle, which placed them in about the center of the stage. The rest of the students around them were just sitting down and beginning the exercise.

"Hey what did you say your name was again?" Nico asked, and Kevin did his best not to frown at him.

"Kevin," was all he responded with as he sat down and waited for the German to do the same.

"Ah, nice to meet you Kevin," Nico said as he sat down behind him, "I guess I'll go first then. What's your last name?"

"Magnussen. Do you have any pets?" Kevin asked. Nico was warm and solid against his back, and Kevin could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing. There was a bit of a height gap between them and if Kevin tilted his head back, he would have been resting it against Nico's shoulder. He tried to be aware of his own breathing and did his best to match it to his partners.

"Yes, I have a dog named Zeus. What's your favourite number?" Nico asked. He and Kevin couldn't seem to inhale and exhale at the same time, and Kevin was beginning to feel like he was the only one putting in any effort.

"Um, twenty I guess. Why are you breathing so fucking fast?" Kevin complained, trying to think of another question and getting increasingly frustrated with the whole breathing ordeal.

"I'm not. Why do you have such an attitude problem?" Nico muttered, shying away from him.

"I wouldn't have an attitude if you weren't an asshole!" Kevin turned around and snapped. They were now facing each other and bickering, which was the exact opposite of what the exercise was supposed to be having them do.

Nico looked offended and seemed like he was about to say something in return when someone rushed over to them and got between them, pulling the two of them off the ground and pushing them apart. It was Kimi, who looked annoyed and gave them each a tired glare.

“You’re supposed to be getting to know each other, not arguing,” Kimi sighed. Kevin felt a bit embarrassed now, and he was glad that they were at the end of the meeting so that he wouldn’t have to be around either of them any longer.

He rushed over to follow Marcus out the door the second that Sebastian dismissed them. Falling in step with the Swede, Kevin wasn’t aware of how warm his cheeks had gotten until he felt the cool fall air on his face when they were out of the building and on their way back to their dorm. Marcus could see that he was upset and waited until they were walking without anybody nearby to ask, "what happened?"

"I got into an argument with that Nico guy. He said I have an attitude problem and I called him an asshole, and then Kimi came over and broke things up," Kevin mumbled. He kept his head down as they walked.

“I’m sorry Kev. You barely know the guy though, I’m sure you guys will get along better next time,” Marcus comforted him softly.

It was just like Marcus to look on the bright side of things and Kevin briefly wondered if his friend was strangely optimistic or if he was just strangely pessimistic.

“I guess,” Kevin sighed as they opened the door to their building, “but he _was_ being an asshole.”

When he went to bed that night, Kevin dearly hoped that his first classes the next morning would go better than the club had gone.

* * *

To his relief, his first day of classes went smoothly. There were no assignments yet since his professors had spent the first class periods going over the syllabus, and Kevin only spotted his unlikeable drama partner in one of his classes. He and Nico shared an awkward glance at one point, but that was the end of any interaction between them. The class sizes were large, so Kevin had faith that they wouldn't have to interact outside of the drama club.

He found Marcus flipping through a sketchbook with a dumb grin on his face when he got back to their room after his last class of the day. The Swede was staring at one of the pages and fiddling with his glasses and didn't even seem to notice Kevin until he cleared his throat and sat down on his bed.

"Oh, hey. How'd everything go today?" Marcus asked, flipping the sketchbook shut with a pink blush on his cheeks. Kevin raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Great, pretty uneventful but that's better than bad. What about you?" Kevin responded, curiously watching as Marcus tossed the sketchbook onto his desk and busied himself with cleaning the lenses of his glasses, which he normally only wore for reading.

"I think I'm in love, Kev," Marcus sighed dramatically, flopping down on his back and staring up at the ceiling, "my art professor didn't talk a ton and had us draw from a live model for the second half of the class, and the guy was _so cute_. Like, I could barely focus on drawing. Thank god he wasn't looking at me because I don't think I would have been able to handle that."

Kevin snorted and began unpacking his bag, "damn, was he like, naked or something?"

Marcus scoffed and threw a pillow at him, which Kevin dodged with a laugh.

"No, he had clothes on," Marcus said, and Kevin could tell he was fighting back a laugh too. That was the end of their conversation, with Kevin leaving to go to the bookstore and find books that his professors had asked the classes to buy.

Over dinner, Marcus fawned over the boy he had drawn earlier some more, and said that he hoped he'd get to see him again someday. Kevin thought it was sweet that his friend was apparently head over heels for somebody, which didn't happen too often for either of them. Both of them hadn't had much interest or experience in dating in the past, and Kevin had wondered if that would change once they were in university.

Part of him knew that Marcus potentially getting into a relationship in the future was something he should be happy and excited about, but Kevin couldn't help but worry that they might grow distant if they had romantic partners. He tried not to let it bother him too much; after all, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't still be close friends even if they were in relationships.

* * *

The next drama club meeting was two days later, and Kevin groaned as Marcus dragged him out of their room and across campus to the building. He had considered talking to the school's administration to see if he could switch to a different club, but there wasn't anything that interested him and he didn't want to leave Marcus. He would just have to hope that he wouldn't get into it with Nico too much.

As Sebastian had said last at their last meeting, there was a new face among the crowd. A tall boy with dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail and pretty doe eyes sat in their circle now, and he looked shy and slightly uncomfortable. 

Marcus inhaled sharply and elbowed Kevin the second he saw the new student.

"Kev that's him, that's the guy who I had to draw yesterday," he whispered, and if Kevin was sitting back to back with him, he was sure he would have felt Marcus' heart rate go through the roof.

"Hmm, he's cute. You should talk to him," Kevin whispered back with a grin. Marcus' sweet nature was hard to dislike but he was shy like the boy he was staring at with cartoony heart eyes, and Kevin knew that he would need to give him a push to get him to talk to the boy.

"About what? I don't know how to talk to cute guys!" Marcus said, doing a bad job of seeming casual.

"I don't know, art? You drew the guy, tell him about that," Kevin suggested. Marcus fell quiet as Sebastian stood up and called the meeting to session, and Kevin could tell that he was going to be freaking out until he finally got a chance to talk to the boy, who Kevin had to admit was rather attractive. He could understand why Marcus was fawning over him. 

"It's good to see all of you again," Sebastian began with a friendly smile, "we have our member who could not make it to the first meeting, so if you would please introduce yourself for us."

The new student sat up straight and pulled his hair out of its ponytail, nervously stretching the hair tie with his hands and looking around the circle of faces all staring back at him.

"My name is Antonio," he said softly, and Kevin felt Marcus next to him practically melt at the thick Italian accent that he spoke with, "I study art history and I would like to be a beekeeper someday."

Kevin looked over to see Marcus looking at him with the most wide eyed expression, and he nudged the Swede with his foot to bring him back down to earth. Marcus shook his head and rubbed his eyes, his cheeks flushed pink and he glanced at Kevin as Sebastian described what they would be doing for the day.

"I literally just want to cradle him in my arms," Marcus whispered to him. Kevin had to slap his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing and hoped that nobody noticed.

"Well, you'll have to talk to him if you eventually want to do that, so I better see you going over to him once we're done here," Kevin muttered, fixing Marcus with a stern look. 

Thankfully for Kevin, he didn't have to interact with Nico directly during the meeting, with Sebastian having them practice speaking in front of an audience by grouping them into trios and having them have a conversation in front of the rest of the club. Kevin ended up with Lando and Charles, both of whom were considerably more tolerable than Nico in his opinion.

Trying to have a conversation and appear casual in front of an audience was more difficult than Kevin had thought it would be. He kept glancing over at the onlookers instead of at his partners and he became self conscious about the way he was standing, the way he was talking, and little things like how long he paused between sentences. By the time his group was done presenting, Kevin felt that the only role he would be fit for was an alien doing a bad job at being disguised as a human being.

The meeting finished on time and Kevin was happy to see Marcus take a shaky breath and make his way over to Antonio once Sebastian dismissed them. Kevin took his time preparing to leave so that he could follow them from a few meters behind and hear what they were saying. Some may call it being nosy, Kevin liked to think of it as looking out for his friend.

“Hey, um, my name is Marcus. You were the model in the art classes yesterday, right?” Marcus began, stuttering awkwardly at first. 

Antonio tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and looked down at the ground. “Yeah, that was me," he said quietly, giving Marcus a timid smile. Kevin followed the two out of the auditorium and down the hall as they talked. It was small talk, but the two seemed made for each other, and the way Marcus easily fell into conversation with the Italian had Kevin wondering if he was watching the birth of something beautiful. 

"I drew you in my class yesterday. I'd show you it but I think I forgot to take a picture on my phone," Marcus said, and Kevin figured that had been what he was staring at and smiling in the sketchbook yesterday.

Antonio stopped suddenly and asked, "can I come see it then? If you wouldn't mind showing me, that is."

Kevin felt like it would be odd if he stopped too and kept walking, eventually catching up with them, which caught Marcus' attention.

"Of course, I'd be happy to show you," Marcus said with a beaming smile. He flagged Kevin down when the Dane was about to walk by and said, "Antonio, this is my best friend and roommate, Kevin."

"Hey, nice to meet you. I guess I'll walk back with you guys," Kevin said, shaking Antonio's hand and falling silent as the three of them started walking again. He trailed slightly behind Marcus and let the two of them chatter, delving into things about art and art history that made no sense to him. As much as he had listened to Marcus talk about art before, Kevin was by no means a very artsy person.

It was a bit cramped with three people in the room and Kevin elected to sit at his desk and start working on a reading assignment for his literature class. The textbook material was monotonous and he tried his best to block out the sounds of Antonio and Marcus talking.

Marcus pulled his sketchbook out and flipped to the page he had drawn on, seeming a bit hesitant to show his newfound friend at first but relaxing when Antonio gasped, taking the book from him and inspecting it with an impressed gaze.

"It's incredible, looks just like me. You are seriously talented," he murmured, looking over the drawing once more before giving it back to Marcus and asking, "can I see some of your other artwork?"

Kevin rubbed his eyes and tried to read a paragraph again. He saw the words and read all of them but he didn't remember any of it, too focused on the conversation happening behind him. What was supposed to be a quick stop by to look at the portrait seemed to be turning into Marcus presenting his entire portfolio, with Antonio fawning over every drawing and painting and constantly praising Marcus. Kevin could just picture how cherry red his friend's cheeks probably were at being so highly praised by the object of his affections. 

"Have you ever done a self portrait?" Antonio asked once Marcus put away the last of the artwork he had with him.

"Oh, no, I haven't. I feel like it would be awkward to stare at myself and try to draw me," Marcus admitted, bashfully looking down at the floor.

"But you're so pretty, you should really draw yourself sometime," Antonio insisted, putting a hand on Marcus' shoulder. Marcus practically squeaked and his eyes widened dramatically.

Kevin huffed and shut his textbook, accidentally slamming it shut louder than he intended to. Both Antonio and Marcus jumped back a bit as he stood up, textbook in hand.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be so loud," Kevin mumbled, "I'm gonna go sit outside and try to get this done, I think."

He smiled awkwardly and shuffled out of the room, drumming his nails against the hardcover book. Antonio and Marcus went back to talking, and Kevin let the door fall shut and made his way down the hall and out the doors, not stopping until he found a bench to sink down on.

Kevin opened the book and got to work. The cool air and lack of hot Italians hitting on his best friend helped him concentrate better, and he finished in good time. He texted Marcus to tell him when Antonio left, and Kevin took some time to stroll around campus.

When Marcus finally texted him to come back a few hours later, Kevin was not surprised to hear the Swede excitedly exclaim that Antonio had given him his number and begged him to hang out some time. As much as he was afraid of losing his friend to someone else, Kevin found their blossoming puppy love to be adorable.

* * *

The first month of the school year passed with ease. Kevin kept up with all his assignments and diligently took notes for all his classes. Marcus frequently spent time with Antonio while also somehow getting all his artwork and other classwork done. With how often Marcus was inviting Antonio over or going to his room, Kevin was just waiting for the day where they officially got together.

The only things that weren't going well for Kevin were the drama club and his language class, both of which were required by the school and Kevin was just trying his best to get through them. 

Drama club managed to cause him the most trouble. Kevin felt weird and unnatural on stage with people watching him, and no matter how many times Sebastian encouraged him, he always felt that he was a laughably bad actor. Seeing as he wasn't looking to make a future on stage, that aspect didn't concern him too much.

What did concern him was his constant feuding with Nico. Whenever they had to interact with each other, it was stiff and tense until they started arguing about something or the other. Often, Kimi or Sebastian would break it up, and Kevin didn't know why they didn't just forbid them from being put in the same groups for things because it always inevitably came to insults and angry shouting.

He wasn't sure what it was about the man that bothered him so much. Their personalities just seemed to clash, and the rocky start they got off to set them up for trouble every time they interacted. Kevin knew that he should be mature and calm down when things started to get heated between them, but his anger and fiery nature took over when he and Nico got into it until somebody else intervened.

Everything that Nico said managed to sound so _confident_ and _arrogant_ and Kevin wanted to slap his charming little smile right off his face whenever he heard his beguiling laughter. The guy seemed so likable that it just made Kevin dislike him even more. It ate at his mind even on days that there wasn't a drama club meeting; Kevin wondered what would happen between him and Nico and his heart rate always picked up whenever he thought about it, and so Kevin tried to shake the thought of the blonde from his head and focus on something else.

The bigger problem for Kevin was his language class. While drama club wasn't a graded thing, his classes were, and his language class was the only thing that he wasn't having an easy time with. 

It was a requirement for students to take a year of a language class, and Kevin had randomly decided to take German. He was now kicking himself for not choosing to take Spanish with Marcus so he could at least have somebody to study with, and German was proving to be more difficult than he had expected. It was different than his native Danish and he found many of the different rules he had to memorize to be irritating.

After not doing too greatly on a quiz, Kevin decided he would ask somebody for help. He knew Sebastian was German, and he figured he could ask him for some help after their next drama club meeting. That was what he planned to do as the club meeting began and Sebastian launched into the topic that he had been waiting for for the entire first month of the school year.

"Alright everyone, today is the day where we choose what our end of the year production is going to be," he began with a clap of his hands, "does anybody have any ideas?"

Just like when he had asked if anybody had theater experience at the beginning of the year, there was a dead silence and none of the students said a thing.

"That's alright. I was thinking that we put on the Greek comedy _The Frogs_. It's very funny even to modern audiences and it's rather popular for theater students to put on. I think you all would like it, especially for your first full production," Sebastian explained with a smile. Kimi sat quietly behind him as he usually did, watching his husband with an unreadable expression.

"Some of you guys would have to play multiple characters. That's not too unusual for student productions so it shouldn't be a problem. If nobody else has any ideas, would you guys be alright with doing that?" Seb asked them.

When nobody had any objections, it became officially decided that they would be putting on _The Frogs._ Sebastian went into detail about how the next few months would go, with most of the meeting times to be spent learning lines and rehearsing scenes, before finally putting it all together for a few full practices and the final production at the end of the year. Behind the scenes work like costuming and set design would be left to Kimi and Sebastian, the latter of which seemed a bit more enthusiastic about all the work that would entail than his husband did.

Once it was time to go, Kevin said, "I'll catch up with you a bit later," to Marcus and made his way over to Sebastian, who was scribbling notes onto a sticky note.

"Hey Kevin, what's up?" the man asked, capping his pen.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I’m struggling with my German class and was wondering if you could help me,” Kevin asked, tightly clutching his notebook to his chest.

“I wish I could but I don’t know if I have time to. I’ve got this club to run and my literature classes to teach and grade and plan for, and there’s very little time left by the end of the day,” Sebastian said with a sympathetic look, “how about you ask Nico? I know you and him don’t always get along super well but he speaks German too and it could be a chance for you guys to put aside your differences.”

Asking Nico for help was the last thing Kevin wanted to do. People always said that there was no shame in needing help but there absolutely was shame in asking somebody that Kevin couldn’t stand. He could already picture Nico making fun of him and refusing.

Nevertheless it was his only option, and so all Kevin could do was suck up his pride and thank Sebastian for the suggestion.

“Thanks, I guess I’ll go ask him. Do you know where he went?” Kevin looked around, trying to see if he could spot Nico still in the room.

“He’s probably still out in the hall, so see if you can catch up with him,” Sebastian nodded in the direction of the auditorium exit, and Kevin saw the blonde in question disappearing out the door that second.

Saying a quick goodbye and thanks, Kevin hurried off the stage and down the aisle, out the door and jogging to catch up with Nico down the hall. He caught up to him just as he was exiting the building, and Kevin tapped his shoulder to get his attention as he stepped beside him, trying to conjure up the politeness to have a conversation that didn't escalate into insults between them.

"Hm?" Nico hummed, looking down to see who it was. A confused look flashed across his eyes when he saw it was Kevin, who normally wanted nothing to do with him outside of the auditorium.

"Look, I know we aren't friends or anything, but I need to ask a favour from you," Kevin mumbled, not meeting his gaze and focusing on the sidewalk.

"What is it?" Nico asked, hands in his pockets.

"I'm having trouble in my German class and I was wondering if you could help me. I asked Sebastian and he told me to ask you because he was too busy," Kevin asked. He felt his face flush in embarrassment at having to swallow his pride and ask for help from Nico of all people.

To his surprise, Nico didn't laugh at him or respond with a conceited, stuck up tone. Instead he offered Kevin a friendly smile and said, "sure. Go get your notes and bring them to the library. I'll meet you there."

Kevin nodded and headed off in the direction of the building where he lived. Marcus was hunched over a painting, slowly painting in small strokes with a brush with tiny bristles. Kevin grabbed his notes and textbook and looked over the Swede's shoulder to see what he was painting.

"I'm going to study at the library with..someone. I'll see you later," Kevin said, touching Marcus' shoulder softly.

"Alright, have fun. I'll be here working on this and Antonio was going to come visit me for a bit," Marcus replied, not able to break his gaze away from the canvas stretched out in front of him.

Kevin slipped out the door and made his way over to the library. He hugged his textbook and notebook to his chest as he did so, shivering slightly in the cool air. Fall was definitely in full swing, and it wouldn't be long until winter came blowing in and he would need to start remembering to wear a jacket when he went outdoors.

In the library, he found Nico sitting at a small round table with a couple of pens and highlighters set out in front of him. Kevin took a seat next to him and set his things on the table, feeling a bit awkward. He hoped that they could at least be civil to one another for a little bit; outright getting along seemed a bit too far out of the question.

"So, what is it that you're having a hard time with?" Nico asked, spreading the notes out to take a look at what the class was covering.

"Mostly the whole grammar cases thing. I don't get what they are or what I'm supposed to be looking for when the assignments ask to identify them in sentences," Kevin said, scooting a bit closer to the table.

"Alright, well there's four different cases, the nominative, dative, accusative, and genitive. I'll go over nominative and accusative first since I think they're a bit easier to understand," Nico sifted through the pages of notes until he found the ones related to what he wanted to talk about. He got a pen and wrote a few things down alongside Kevin's notes to provide better explanations.

"Ok, so the nominative case is the subject of a sentence, and the accusative is the direct object of the sentence. Does that make sense?" Nico explained, calmly and clearly.

"Not really, I don't know what direct object is supposed to mean," Kevin said, crossing his arms.

"Direct object is the person or thing receiving the action in the sentence," Nico said, pointing with the cap of the pen to where it was in the notes.

"Is that not the same thing as the subject?" Kevin asked.

"No, they're two entirely different things, like I said," Nico sighed, and the huff of annoyance in his voice was enough to set things off between them.

"Well you're doing a piss poor job explaining it then," Kevin snapped, and his wish for them to be civil to one another dissipated as he felt his frustration and dislike of Nico and his attitude flare up.

"Or maybe you just can't fucking listen. I mean, is your head so far up your own ass that you can't listen to anyone else?" Nico retorted with a glare. Some of the other busy people in the library around them glanced up at the sound of their quiet argument.

"The least you could do is admit that you need to explain it again instead of being a world class asshole about it," Kevin hissed, standing up quickly and nearly knocking his papers off the table, "go fuck yourself, knowing you you'd probably enjoy it."

Nico raised his eyebrows and said, "oh fuck off, you're always flocking to me and getting in my face. If you hate me so much, why do you talk to me and stare at me so much?"

Kevin tried to think of something to say and felt himself freeze up. He didn't think Nico noticed how much he looked at him from afar, and Kevin really couldn't answer the question of why he did it. It made him flush red all over and Kevin gathered his things quickly and basically sprinted away, a mixture of anger, embarrassment, and confusion. 

He didn't expect to be called out like that and for the first time, he wondered if Nico had made a good point. It would be easy for Kevin to just ignore him, but instead he found himself itching to talk to the German, unable to stop himself from talking to him when the opportunities presented themselves in drama club. There was something about him that kept drawing Kevin in, and he was certain that it was just his lively temper wanting to argue with somebody.

The Dane kept walking until he reached his building and was outside his and Marcus' room. He shifted to hold the notes and textbook in one hand and opened the door quietly with the other, stepping in and intending to set his things down and sulk around for a while.

His plans were cancelled when he saw Marcus sitting on his bed, Antonio in his lap and the two of them engaged in a kiss. Marcus had his hands tangled into the Italian's long, silky hair, and his eyes were shut as Antonio clung to his shoulders and kissed him like his life depended on it. It wasn't exactly new to Kevin that the two were into each other and eventually would get together, but them passionately making out wasn't what Kevin expected to see when he opened the door.

It wasn't what he necessarily wanted to see either, and so Kevin slipped out the door again and let it silently fall shut. He was aggravated from what had happened with Nico and now he wasn't able to go scream into his pillow like he wanted to. Kevin weighed his options about what to do, and decided that his best bet was to go sit in the library. There was the chance that Nico was still there, but he figured the library was big enough for him to avoid him and have some peace and quiet.

Kevin dragged himself back to the library and went around the side to enter through a different door. He found himself in between tall bookshelves, in a little clearing with a couple of armchairs and coffee tables. The only people sitting there were Pierre and Charles, and Kevin went to sit with them despite initially planning to try and study on his own.

Sinking down into a soft chair, Kevin set his textbook and notebook on the floor. Pierre and Charles were holding hands and whispering quietly to one another before they noticed him and turned to talk.

"What's wrong Kevin? You look mad," Pierre asked with a concerned look.

"I had an argument with Nico again. I was hoping he would help me study for something and it didn't even take ten minutes for us to start fighting," Kevin sighed. He rubbed his eyes and suddenly became aware of how weary he felt.

"Hmm, yeah you guys really don't get along, do you?" Charles piped up, leaning forward and looking Kevin over with a critical eye.

"He's just so...I don't even know. I just can't stand him, he seems so arrogant and annoying and we start arguing every time we talk to each other. I don't get why we can't just get along," Kevin complained. It felt good to let it all out to somebody else, even if he couldn't entirely explain it.

"You know what I bet would solve your guys' problems with each other?" Charles said with a knowing look, "you should fuck him. That sexual tension is thick enough to cut with a knife."

Kevin involuntarily widened his eyes and gaped at him for a moment, almost unsure if he had heard the boy correctly. Pierre giggled softly at his shocked expression and nudged his leg with his foot to get Kevin out of his thoughts and back into the present.

"Uh, what sexual tension? I want to smack the shit out of his arrogant face, not sleep with him!" Kevin exclaimed a little too loudly. He hoped nobody else was nearby to hear it, especially not the asshole in question. The last thing he needed was for Nico to hear Charles trying to hook them up.

"It's so obvious, how have you not noticed it? You're so obsessed with him! You think you hate him but he's all you ever think about, right? You're one of those emotionally constipated people who doesn't know how to handle their feelings, especially romantic ones, and so you tell yourself that you hate him and argue with him to keep yourself from feeling those butterflies in your stomach whenever you look at him, which is quite frequently if I may add. Face the music Kevin, you've got some hidden feelings for Nico that you really need to sort through," Charles said like it was nothing, as if he were making small talk at a bus stop and not reading his classmate to filth.

"...oh. Well then. I don't really know what to say," Kevin muttered and slouched back in the chair. What Charles had said did answer some of the things that he couldn't explain about what made Nico steal so much of his attention, but Kevin wasn't sure he felt ready to say with certainty that he was in love with Nico. He'd have to do some thinking later, hopefully when Marcus was done shoving his tongue down the hot Italian's throat.

"You'll figure things out, just be honest with yourself," Charles advised him with a wink. Kevin nodded and bit his lip.

"And Kevin, let yourself be in love. It's such a beautiful thing and denying it only hurts," Pierre added softly.

Kevin ended up spending a few more hours in the library, busying himself with German dictionaries and grammar books, until he finally trudged back to the dorm, hoping he would actually be able to go in the room now. Marcus was bent over his painting once more, his glasses falling down his nose and his face strained in concentration as he tried to get the smallest details worked to perfection. The Dane decided not to say anything about what he had seen. Marcus would tell him when he was ready to.

That night, Kevin lay in bed and thought through everything that had happened in the day. The arguing with Nico, Charles calling him out harder than any therapist could have, the fact that he now had some feelings to figure out.

He hated to admit it even to himself, but Nico was a rather handsome guy, and he had a way of lighting up a room. He was passionate and lively, and Kevin thought that perhaps that was why he liked arguing with him so much, because it drew out the energetic and emotional side of Nico and he loved seeing it. 

Kevin groaned and hid his face in his pillow as he felt his cheeks warm at the thought of kissing Nico to shut him up instead of slapping him like Kevin always wanted to. His feelings of dislike and annoyance had fully given way to the butterflies waking up in his stomach, coming out of their shell and beginning to flutter their wings. Whether that was better or worse than disliking Nico was something Kevin wasn’t sure he’d ever figure out.

* * *

Confronting his feelings for Nico only made things weirder for Kevin. Now he actively avoided him, refusing to talk to him instead of trying to interact with him like he normally did. It wasn't too difficult given that the few classes they were in together were large enough that they never ended up near each other, but the drama club was considerably smaller and Kevin had a harder time avoiding him there. 

He did his best to not even look at Nico. When Kevin caught himself staring longingly at him, he squeezed his eyes shut and stared at something or somebody else. If he couldn't hate him to cover up his yearning, then he just wouldn't acknowledge him, Kevin decided.

Charles and Pierre, who seemed to have taken it upon themselves to be his personal chorus like in the Greek plays they talked about, noticed and tried to push him in the German's direction a few times. Kevin always gave them dirty looks and went the other way, determined to force himself to get over Nico. 

They hadn't assigned roles for the play yet, spending the next few meetings going over the different characters and the plot of the play, with Sebastian getting into long winded lectures about themes and stage blocking in specific moments. Kevin was hoping that when they finally did get to assigning roles, he would be allowed to take a minor role or just not be in the play at all. If he couldn't interact with Nico normally, then there was no way in hell that he would be able to talk to him in front of an audience, and Kevin didn't need that kind of drama in his life.

One day after drama club, as he walked with Marcus back to their dorm, the Swede said he needed to tell him something important.

"Antonio and I are now dating," Marcus said with a shy smile, a light blush on his face and he looked happier than Kevin had ever seen him.

"Finally," Kevin chuckled, "I saw you guys kissing a few days ago so I'm not exactly surprised by that. I'm happy for you guys though, I know how much you like him."

"You saw that?!" Marcus cried, "shit, I didn't even hear you come in."

Kevin laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. He really was happy for Marcus, and he thought the two made a cute couple. After all, the artist and the muse was an adorable getting together story. But part of him felt a pang of sadness as he worried that their friendship would be put on the back burner in favor of Marcus being in a relationship. Obviously Kevin knew that Marcus would spend a lot of time with Antonio and their relationship was different than his friendship with Marcus, but he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit jealous of Antonio for taking up such a big part of Marcus' life. 

They were in that honeymoon phase of relationships that Kevin heard so much about, that halcyon of new love that blinded people sometimes. To say that Marcus was still in that phase was an understatement, and the way he mused on about Antonio and things that the Italian said to him quickly went from adorable to annoying in Kevin's mind.

He was already irritable from his Nico problems, and that combined with his classes and his friend going on and on about his relationship made Kevin eventually snap one day and create more problems for himself.

The two of them were sitting in their room on a rainy Saturday, with Kevin working on making vocabulary cards and Marcus finishing up a drawing for his art class. They talked as they went along, sharing their excitement for the winter holiday break and what their plans were for when it finally came.

"I was thinking about inviting Antonio to come home with me for Christmas. His family doesn't live around here and I would feel bad just leaving him here with nobody to spend time with," Marcus said with a sigh.

Kevin frowned slightly and put down his notecards. Usually he and Marcus got together for the holidays and he got the feeling that that wasn't going to be happening this year, unless he was to awkwardly third wheel along for the entire break.

"Oh. Do you still want me to come over or...?" Kevin mumbled, feeling a bit left out even though he knew it was perfectly reasonable for Marcus to want to spend the holidays with his boyfriend. 

"Well I was hoping you would at least come over on Christmas," Marcus said, "I also wanted to do some things with Antonio like go ice skating and take him to my favourite places. You could tag along with us if you'd like."

"I wouldn't want to intrude on your guys' dates. It already feels like I'm a third wheel, you're always talking about him and can't seem to talk about anything else," Kevin muttered. The second the words left his mouth, he felt immensely guilty and knew he shouldn't have said that. 

"Marcus, I...," Kevin tried to say something to make it better, but nothing came to mind and he buried his head in his hands and sat there feeling like the biggest asshole in the world. Behind him he could hear Marcus continuing to sketch on the paper and breathing like he was trying not to cry. When Kevin peeked through his fingers at him, he could see a wet tear trailing down Marcus' cheek.

Now he had school stress, love life problems, and had made his best friend cry. Kevin sighed and wondered how he had dug himself into such a hole.

* * *

He and Marcus didn't talk for the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend, and when the next week started they were still not on speaking terms. Kevin felt bad about what he had said and didn't know how to apologize or if Marcus would even want to talk to him if he tried to. 

It felt awkward to be ignoring one another while living in the same small room. Going from living with his best friend and talking whenever they could to being completely silent and acting as if the other wasn't there made Kevin feel strange. Every time he wanted to say something or complain about his schoolwork, Kevin was reminded that Marcus was ignoring him. It made him feel sad and lonely on top of his guilt; the person whose shoulder he could always cry on wanted nothing to do with him.

Kevin fully anticipated that the next drama club meeting would be incredibly unpleasant, seeing as he was now ignoring two of the people there. Three people technically, since he figured Marcus had told Antonio what had happened and that the Italian probably wouldn't want to talk to him either. It would be more than difficult to get anything done effectively if he was ignoring nearly half the club.

He was relieved to find out that they wouldn't be doing anything acting related when Sebastian started the meeting.

"I was planning on having us decide on roles for the play today but that will have to wait until next week. Every year the school hosts a blood drive with local hospitals and the school board has asked me to handle it this year. I'll need a bit of help with that and so I figured my drama kids could give me a hand with it," Sebastian said, gesturing to the circle of students sitting on the stage. 

Kevin didn't know much about blood collection but he was glad to just sit there and listen to Sebastian explain everything about how the blood drive, which was to be in two days on Thursday, would work. 

The students were assigned to different tasks to help out with, such as helping to set up and take down equipment and getting water for donors after they were finished. Kevin wondered if he had done something to make Sebastian dislike him when the man announced that he wanted him and Nico to handle checking people in and keeping track of who all donated blood. Out of all the people in the club, he just had to be paired up with one of the people who he was avoiding like the plague.

His annoyance about it didn't matter though, it needed to be done and he figured that he could ignore Nico well enough since the job required them to be talking to other people, even though they'd be sitting right next to each other. 

Still, he was a bit anxious as he drove to the other side of the campus that Thursday, a coat and scarf wrapped tightly around him to protect him from the coolness of winter that had come to town.

The conference hall that the blood drive was to be in was a large building far away from his dorm, near the auditorium. Kevin parked and walked to the wide double doors, shivering and shoving his hands in his pockets. He saw Marcus walking in front of him, and he wished he could talk to him. He missed his friend dearly but wanted to give him space if he needed it.

It didn't do to dwell on it though, and Kevin let his problem with his friend slip out of his mind as he entered the building and spotted Nico at a table in front of the doors to the conference hall. There were a few minutes until donors were to start arriving, so Kevin went and sat silently down beside him, looking over the pens and papers they had to check people in with.

"Hey, Kevin?" Nico began softly, putting a hand on his arm, "can we try to at least be...pleasant to each other today? Just for the few hours that this is going on."

Kevin was quiet for a moment and looked him over with a curious eye. Nico seemed much more demure than he normally was and Kevin felt that he was being genuine.

"Yeah. Let's not argue today," Kevin agreed, and he felt himself break out into a small smile, which Nico then reciprocated. He felt his heart beat a little quicker than usual as they smiled at each other, and Kevin thought that perhaps he could get used to seeing Nico smile at him.

The moment was broken by people beginning to come in through the door to line up at their table. For the next few hours, him and Nico asked and wrote down the name and time of every person who was donating blood, ushering them through the doors of the conference hall the second they were finished writing to be as efficient as possible. There were many students who came, and Kevin wouldn't have been able to keep track of how many they checked in if it weren't for Nico keeping tabs on it. 

They were so focused on the task at hand that they didn't even notice the snowflakes that began falling outside, gently and so light at first that they practically melted before they even hit the ground.

Kevin was surprised to find that he and Nico worked well together and managed to make it through the entire event without saying one mean word to each other, even when there was a moment of confusion here and there. Maybe it was because they genuinely were starting to get along, or maybe it was just because they didn't have to talk directly to one another, but Kevin felt uplifted by the blood drive going smoothly and him and Nico being cordial.

When the last donor had been checked in, Kevin's wrists were sore from writing. He stood up and stretched while Nico handed the sheets of names and times to Sebastian, who had come to pick them up.

"That was a lot more people than I expected to come," Nico commented once Sebastian had left. Kevin sat down again and started to shrug his coat back on.

"Same here, I can see why Seb wanted two people to handle it," Kevin said with a laugh. He searched around for his scarf, which had fallen on the ground, and brushed it off before wrapping it around his neck.

"We got it done though. I think we make a pretty good team," Nico said, smiling at him with a twinkle in his eye.

Kevin blushed and looked down at his lap. "Yeah, we do," he murmured, "you know, Nico, you're much different than I thought you were when I first met you. I'm...sorry for the bad things I said about you." Apologizing felt natural and he didn't have to force it. Kevin hoped he could do the same to Marcus soon.

"Me too. I'm sorry too, we were both such assholes to each other for no reason," Nico offered, sticking his hand out, "let's be friends then? or at least friendly acquaintances?"

Kevin shook his hand and said, "that sounds good to me," and for the first time that week, he felt cheerful.

It was while he was digging his car keys out of his coat pocket and Nico was putting his own coat on that Kevin noticed the snow outside, now falling harder and covering the ground in a light dusting. 

"Man, winter sure came quickly this year," Kevin said, glancing over his shoulder at Nico.

"Yeah, it seemed like the leaves were still falling not that long ago. Would you mind giving me a ride back to the other side of campus? I walked here and I'd rather not walk back in the snow. I'm in the building right next to you," Nico asked as they watched the snow.

"Sure. Let's get going," Kevin said, and they went through the doors together and out into the snow.

It began falling harder as they walked across the lot, and by the time they were at Kevin's car, it had gotten so heavy that he could barely see what was in front of him. He shivered and unlocked the car, quickly climbing into the drivers side and Nico getting in on the opposite passenger's side. They brushed the snow from off of themselves and Kevin turned the car on to turn on the windshield wipers, the snow covering the window in a thick blanket that blocked his view entirely.

"Too heavy to drive right now. Let's sit and wait for it to let up a little," Kevin said. 

The dark clouds covered the sun and made it look like it was midnight, not evening. 

They sat in silence at first until Nico spoke, asking mundane questions mostly to break the silence. Kevin answered and occasionally asked a few things himself, but he much preferred to listen to Nico talk and study his features. He felt himself being pulled in by Nico's wit and charm, and he finally understood what Pierre had meant by letting himself be in love.

"My hands are so cold," Kevin said after their conversation died down. He rubbed them together in attempt to warm them up but nothing seemed to help. He tucked them inside his coat for a few minutes before sighing and rubbing them together again, blowing on his palms a few times.

"Here, give me your hands," Nico said after watching him for a few minutes, reaching out for him. 

Kevin put his hands in Nico's, larger than his own and much warmer too. The German wrapped his hands around Kevin's and held them, rubbing his fingers softly over the backs and stroking his palms with his thumb. Kevin's hands were warmed as was his heart, and he wished he could stay with his hands in Nico's forever. The butterflies in his stomach were fluttering once more as Nico warmed his hands and Kevin couldn't believe that he had ever hated Nico.

"Thanks," Kevin breathed out, and he couldn't stop himself from intertwining their fingers, properly holding his hands. It was comforting and he hoped that the snow wouldn't ease up for at least a few minutes, not ready to let go of Nico's hands.

"You're kind of adorable, you know," Nico said with a smile, and Kevin was pretty sure he was going to melt into the ground.

"You're not too bad yourself," he blurted out, and he smiled when it got a laugh out of Nico.

Then, as they sat in the Dane's car, sheltered from the falling snow, Nico leaned in and pressed his lips to Kevin's, gripping his hands still. It was sudden but also so perfect and exactly what Kevin never knew he needed. Nico's lips were warm and soft like his hands as they kissed and Kevin savored every moment of it.

It was now clear that Charles had been right; their issues with each other were a farce to cover up their deeper feelings, and Kevin had never been so glad to be proven wrong.

Kevin was disappointed for a moment when Nico pulled away, only for it to be replaced by worry. He had kissed Nico. There was no going back on acknowledging his feelings for him and there was certainly no going back on Nico being aware, and apparently reciprocating his feelings. Kevin wished he knew why that freaked him out so much, but it did, and he solemnly turned away from Nico after it happened. 

"I think it's clear enough to drive home now," he said meekly, turning on the windshield wipers and buckling his seatbelt. 

They drove in silence and although it was only a few minutes, it felt like an eternity to Kevin, and he let out a long sigh once he dropped Nico off in front of his building. He sat in the car for a few minutes, trying to bottle things up inside and calm down, before finally parking and trudging inside. 

As he walked down the hall, trying to hide his face in his scarf as well as he could, Kevin felt tears welling up in his eyes and even his best efforts to keep his cheeks dry failed as he opened the door and slipped into their room. Marcus was reading a book at his desk when Kevin came in, and he ignored Kevin, as was now the norm for them, until he heard him softly crying. 

Kevin kicked off his shoes and let his coat and scarf fall to the ground before sitting cross legged on his bed and letting the tears drip down his cheeks. In an instant, Marcus was up from his desk and sitting beside Kevin, wrapping an arm around him and asking, "hey, what's wrong Kev?"

It took a few minutes for Kevin to calm down enough to take a deep breath and wipe at his eyes.

"Well, I thought I hated Nico for a long time but then it turns out that I actually like him a lot and he kissed me in my car today and I freaked out and accidentally made him think that I didn't like it and now I've just dug myself into such a deep hole that I might as well be at the center of the earth, and you're mad at me because I was a piece of shit to you and there's just so much more drama in my life than I currently need right now," Kevin cried, putting his head on Marcus' shoulder and hiding his face in the material of the Swede's shirt.

"Alright slow down, and let's go through those things one by one. You said you thought you hated him but you actually like him?" Marcus asked slowly, rubbing Kevin's shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah. I argued with him all the time as you know, and I thought it was just because we were too different or whatever but then Charles went off on me about how I'm actually just emotionally constipated and I used disliking him as a way to cope with my feelings for him, and I realized that he was right," Kevin muttered, grateful to at least have his friend talking to him once more.

"So you've come to terms with your feelings, that's a good thing, right?" Marcus asked.

"Kind of. Like, yeah I've got it figured out, but then Nico kissed me tonight. It's not that I didn't like it, but I just freaked out about it because only recently have I come to terms with things and it surprised me," Kevin admitted.

It felt therapeutic to get it off his chest and to tell his friend. Marcus seemed to know how to always make things better, and trying to go through this without him had been so difficult for Kevin.

"Okay, I can understand that. What did you do that makes you think he thinks you didn't like it?" Marcus pressed on, letting Kevin cry on his shoulder like they did when they were kids and one of them got hurt.

"I just said that we should drive back and then we didn't talk at all," Kevin mumbled. He felt tired and thirsty from crying, and was glad that he didn't have any early classes the next day.

"Then the easiest fix for that is to _talk to him_. I think you've seen by now that bottling your feelings up and trying to pretend doesn't do anything except hurt you and make things worse. You need to talk to him and be honest. Tell him what you just told me, about how you feel the same for him but you were caught off guard and didn't know how to react. The worst that could happen is that he doesn't want to hear it, and at that point it becomes a reflection of him, not you," Marcus advised him, pulling Kevin into a tight embrace.

Kevin lay his cheek against his shoulder and mulled over what Marcus had said. The thought of having that conversation with Nico was terrifying to him at the moment, but he knew that ultimately Marcus was right, and he really needed to talk to him, even if he wasn't quite sure how to say what he needed to say yet.

"I will. I don't know when, but I will. Thank you, Marcus," Kevin whispered, clutching him tightly, "and I'm so sorry for what I said to you. It was so mean and I shouldn't have said it. You have every right to be excited about your relationship and I should have been more supportive of you."

"I should apologize too. I'm sorry if I was making it seem like our friendship wasn't as important to me now that I'm dating Antonio. You'll always be my best friend, and being in a relationship doesn't make me appreciate and value you and that friendship we have any less," Marcus responded, and Kevin was glad that things were alright between the two of them again.

When he went to bed that night, Kevin felt a little more hopeful about the future than he had hours before. He and Marcus were back to talking and being friends again, and he knew what he needed to do to fix things with Nico. The world seemed a little less hectic as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

At the next drama club meeting, Kevin still hadn't worked up the courage to approach Nico. He could feel the blonde staring at his back while Sebastian talked, and he felt self conscious of every little movement he made.

"First of all I wanted to thank you guys for helping with the blood bank. Everything went smoothly and I don't think we could have gotten it done without you guys. Now our topic for today is casting roles for our play," Sebastian began, holding a clipboard with the names of all the club members, "normally we would hold auditions for this type of thing, but since we're a small group I think we can manage by talking it out."

For the next hour, they all sat in their circle and decided who would play what part. Whenever the spotlight came to Kevin, he always mumbled that he still wasn't sure what he wanted to play and told them to come back to him later.

Rather fittingly, Lando, Alex, and George were chosen to play the trio of frogs that appeared in the show, along with them also taking on the multiple feminine characters who briefly appear in the play. The thought of crossdressing on stage was rather humorous to the three Brits, who giggled and whispered to one another excitedly. Charles and Pierre took the parts of the chorus, which Kevin thought was a bit ironic, and the two poets in the play. Marcus was to play Dionysus' servant, which was one of the two lead roles, and two more small roles that only had a few lines. Antonio was to be Heracles, and Kevin thought he practically looked the part with his shiny ponytail and figure that looked like he could have been a Michelangelo statue.

When Nico was cast as the lead role of Dionysus, Kevin was firmly cemented in his insistence on not being in the production.

"And for Kevin, the only character we haven't decided on yet is Pluto. Are you okay with filling that role?" Sebastian asked, looking over the notes he had taken on the clipboard.

"Um, actually I was wondering if I could not be in the show. I get massive stage fright, but I could help with the behind the scenes stuff," Kevin asked quietly. It was only partially a lie and he knew he probably looked like a jerk for not wanting to be in the show when so many of them already were playing multiple characters.

"If you're absolutely certain that you don't want to be on stage, then I suppose that you can help Kimi and I with the costuming and making sets and props," Sebastian said with a shrug, and Kevin gladly accepted that job. The role of Pluto was passed on to somebody else so that Kevin was the only one who wouldn't be on stage.,

When the meeting ended, Sebastian pulled him aside and asked to speak to him, and Kevin was worried that he was going to be getting a talking to about not wanting to be in the play. They waited until the rest of the students had filed out of the club and Sebastian turned to him with a concerned look. 

"Is there anything going on that I can help you with Kevin? It's fine if you don't want to be in the play, but I just want to make sure that there isn't anything serious that's making you not want to do it," Sebastian asked, and Kevin felt like he was being talked to by his mother.

"I need to tell Nico that I'm in love with him but I don't know how to. He kissed me after the blood drive and I ignored him after it happened because I didn't know how to react, and now I need to tell him that I feel the same way about him," Kevin admitted, bashfully looking down at the stage floor.

There was a silence that followed before Sebastian put his arm around Kevin and led him off the stage and to the first row of seats in the auditorium where Kimi sat grading papers, sitting down next to the Finn and motioning for Kevin to sit in the spot next to him. The Dane did so, waiting for whatever would come next.

"When I first met Kimi, I was absolutely terrified of him and was scared to talk to him at all. I thought he hated me and I was afraid that if I ever told him how I felt about him, he'd judge me and reject me instantly," Sebastian began softly. He reached over and took Kimi's hand in his own, giving him a fond smile and playing with the wedding ring on his finger.

"But look at us now. We're married, we work together, we run this little club together, and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. If I had never talked to him, who knows where I might be right now? So go talk to Nico. The regret you might feel later on if you don't would be so much more painful than any rejection that might happen," he went on, patting Kevin's shoulder reassuringly with his other hand.

Kevin smiled a bit and let himself imagine the indulgent picture of him and Nico like that, a married couple who made each others lives complete. 

"Thanks guys. I think I'm gonna give it a shot now," Kevin said, standing up and nodding his head in affirmation.

The two of them wished him good luck, and Kevin confidently strolled out of the auditorium building and over to the library, where he knew Nico normally was after drama club meetings. He found the German sitting at a table, a book in his hands and a binder on the ground next to him. 

Kevin wordlessly approached and sat in the chair next to him, swallowing thickly and folding his hands. Nico put a bookmark on his page and set the book done once he noticed him there and sat back, waiting for Kevin to say something.

"Nico, I'm sorry for freaking out and ignoring you after what happened on Thursday. I want to be your friend though, if you'll let me that is, and I hope you can forgive me for acting like an idiot a lot recently," Kevin said in a smooth breath, and he sounded surprisingly calm compared to how he felt on the inside.

At first Nico didn't respond, and Kevin was afraid that he was going to be upset with him until Nico began to smile and said, "yeah, I want to be friends too."

Kevin stood up with a grin and pulled him into a hug. As much as he wanted to hold his hands and kiss him again, to most past the friends stage into more-than-friends, Kevin wasn't sure he knew how to get there yet. Being friends was a start, and he tried to tell his yearning heart to settle with that for now.

"And if you ever need help studying for your German class, I'll gladly be of service," Nico added.

Later that night, when Kevin was finished with all his assignments for the day, he told Marcus about the conversation he had with Nico in the library. Marcus initially reprimanded him for not confessing his full feelings, which Kevin was still hoping to do someday.

"It just didn't feel like the right time," Kevin insisted, "I'll tell him when the time feels right."

With a smile on his face and a glimmer in his eye, Marcus said, "hmm, well you never know when the perfect opportunity will present itself," and Kevin should have known that the Swede wasn't beyond meddling in his love life at that point.

* * *

Kevin was surprised to see the rest of the drama club gathered at a table in the library when he came in to get some work done the next day. The only one who wasn't there asides from him was Nico, and he raised an eyebrow and walked over to the table where they were all huddled close together, talking and not even seeming to notice him.

It was Alex who saw him approaching and loudly said hello, which alerted the others and had them sitting up straight and quieting down. The smiles that he saw on all of their faces made Kevin wonder if he was intruding on something that he wasn't supposed to hear or see, and he inspected them all curiously before asking, "what are all of you doing?"

Multiple people tried to answer at once and it sounded like they were saying different things, and there was an awkward moment of them all glancing at one another until Charles said, "we're practicing some parts of the play. We wanted to get an early start since we have multiple roles to memorize."

There were some papers spread out on the table, which Kevin didn't think looked much like a script, but he decided not to question any further and went to work on his own. He sat down a little ways away from them and opened his textbook and notebook, flipping to the section he was assigned to read and take notes on. Every once in a while Kevin would glance up and look at the other drama club students at their table, which was actually just a few smaller tables pushed together.

Often he would catch them looking at him too, turning their heads away the second he met their gaze and going back to talking in hushed voices to each other. Kevin couldn't hear them and wasn't sure he wanted to know what they were actually doing, figuring that they weren't actually going over lines.

He got the assignment done easily in the peace and quiet of the library, and Kevin let his textbook fall shut just in time to see George approaching him.

"Sebastian wants you to take Nico's measurements so that you guys can start on making costumes," George told him, and it seemed reasonable enough. Kevin recalled Sebastian telling him that he wanted to get started on making all the things for the play early so that they would all be finished in time for the end of the year.

"Like, right now? When did he tell you that?" Kevin asked.

"Uh, sometime today, in the backstage part of the auditorium. We told him that we were meeting up today and he asked us to tell you that if we saw you," George said, and Kevin decided to take his word for it.

"I'll head over there soon, I guess."

He dropped his things off at his and Marcus' room and searched around for the cloth tape measure that he knew Marcus had with his art supplies, the purpose of which was beyond him. Kevin strode to the auditorium in a few minutes, and he entered through the backdoor to get to the backstage part of it, where there were a few different rooms for actors to get dressed in and prepare for performances. There he found Nico standing around, looking at the vanities and absentmindedly whistling.

"Hey, did George tell you to come here? He said texted me something about having my measurements taken," Nico said when he noticed Kevin walking up to him.

"Yeah. I know Sebastian said he wants to start making everything early, so I guess we're starting now," Kevin answered. His heart was beating quickly and he ached for Nico to kiss him again, now kicking himself for only asking to be _friends._

Kevin used the cloth tape measure to take the measurements of Nico's arms, chest, waistline, practically anything he knew that needed to be measured for fitted clothing. They were silent as he did so, the only sounds being their slow breathing. It felt so intimate yet also so torturous for Kevin to be so close to Nico, to be able to feel every rise and fall of his breath and see every detail of his skin yet he couldn't find it in him to confess his feelings. He never knew that taking somebody's measurements could be so intimate and Kevin's mind ran wild, being alone for the very first time with Nico was thrilling to him.

After he noted every measurement, Kevin tucked the tape measure back into his pocket and said, "well, we're all finished here," and gazed longingly at Nico. Neither of them made a move to leave and they were standing in an awkward silence for a short moment.

Nico took a few slow steps towards Kevin until they were just centimeters apart, putting a hand on his arm and cupping his cheek in his other hand. Kevin shuddered and looked into his eyes.

"When are you going to tell me your secret?" Nico murmured, smiling softly down at him. Kevin felt his cheeks flush and he couldn't stop himself from leaning into his touch.

"What secret?" Kevin asked in an almost inaudible voice. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Nico's, blue irises looking straight through him and into the very depths of his soul. The height difference between them wasn't that much, but it was enough for Kevin to feel tiny in his hands and feel like he was much smaller than Nico.

"That one that you know but don't know how to say," Nico said, stroking his cheek, "because it fucks with your pride and is always teasing your head, Kevin. I know it well, I'm just waiting for you to say it."

Kevin wasn't aware of anything else outside of their little room backstage of the auditorium as he stepped closer to Nico, putting his hands on his shoulders and nearly forgetting how to speak for a second.

"I love you," Kevin whispered, and that's all the further they got before Kevin leaned up and kissed him, letting his eyes fall shut and feeling Nico wrap an arm around his waist to pull him closer as their lips moved against one another in harmony. It was warm and sweet and Kevin could have kissed Nico forever, never wanting it to end and this time not having an internal crisis over it.

Nico gently rubbed his back as he kissed the small Dane, and when they parted, they both took a breath before meeting once more, this time slower and lazier than before. Kevin couldn't believed that he had deprived himself of this for so long and he wanted to hold tightly onto Nico to make up for all the time that he had spent pretending that this wasn't exactly what he wanted.

"So," Nico rested his forehead against Kevin's, "can we give being _boyfriends_ a try?" 

Kevin felt the biggest smile spread across his face as he nodded his head, "yes, that's all I want. I just want you."

They embraced, kissed once more, and walked out of the auditorium hand in hand. 

When Kevin gave Sebastian the measurements the next week, Sebastian accepted them but said that he couldn't remember telling George to do that, and that was when everything made sense to Kevin. The drama club students all huddled together at the library, the whispers and glances they had given him, how nervous and simultaneously on the verge of laughter George had seemed while telling him to take Nico's measurements; it was now clear to Kevin that the whole thing had been an elaborate ruse to get the two of them alone together.

Normally Kevin would have been angry about that type of thing, but he was happier than he had ever been with Nico at his side, and he couldn't find it in him to do anything other than laugh about it when Marcus told him the whole story of how the drama club had gotten together to come up with a way to get him and Nico together. The Swede also insisted that he and Nico go on a double date with him and Antonio, and Kevin's fears of their friendship fading once they were in relationships were a forgotten thing of the past.

* * *

The school year seemed to pass by in a blur for Kevin. All of his classes he passed with flying colours, including German with the dilligent help of Nico. At each drama club meeting, Kevin helped Kimi sew costumes, make set backgrounds, and create props out of recycled materials while Sebastian coached the rest of the students in their acting and helped them rehearse the scenes for the play. Kevin became very good at sewing, which he had never done before making the costumes, and he eventually stopped swearing so much every time he accidentally pricked his finger with the needle.

He and Nico went on their first actual date over the holiday break, and he kept his promise to Marcus of going on a double date. Kevin and Nico went iceskating with Marcus and Antonio, and he found that Antonio was as sweet and shy as Marcus was. His relationship with Nico brought Kevin much joy, and he loved every second that he spent with his boyfriend and every relationship milestone that they hit together. Often they would recall the arguments they had had when they first met and laugh over them together, and Kevin liked to reminisce on how much things had changed, how much he had changed.

Before they knew it, it was time for the end of the year drama club production of _The Frogs_. Kevin, Kimi, and Sebastian finished all of their behind the scenes work on time for a couple full run through practices, and Kevin was excited for the final show, even though he wasn't even going to be in it. Working behind the scenes had been much more fun than he expected it to be, and Kevin discovered that he had a hidden love for that kind of work.

On the night of the show, Kevin excitedly sat in the audience with Kimi and Sebastian and watched all of their hard work come to life onstage. The show was visually beautiful and incredibly entertaining like Sebastian had said it was, and Kevin found himself laughing along with the audience at the antics of Dionysus and Xanthias, portrayed by the acting skills of Nico and Marcus. The entire cast pulled off every quick costume change perfectly, and they all delivered their lines flawlessly. Even the songs sung by the three frogs, Alex, George, and Lando, managed to sound professional and captivated the audience.

Kevin was beaming with pride for his friends on stage and the work he had done to bring the show to life. Him, Sebastian, and Kimi probably clapped the loudest when the show was over and the students were taking their bows. 

The three of them rushed backstage to celebrate, and Kevin jumped into Nico's arms, still in his Dionysus get up, and kissed him in between words of praise and congratulations. 

The entirety of the drama club stayed chattering with one another backstage for hours, with somebody ordering a pizza at one point so that they could keep on sharing moments from onstage and from the school year. 

Looking around the room, Kevin felt at ease. Nico's arm was around his shoulders, drawing him in close to his side lovingly and protectively, and Kevin rested his head against his shoulder. He saw Charles and Pierre arm in arm, talking excitedly to the rest of the group and giving each other little kisses on the cheek every once in a while. Alex, Lando, and George were seated on the floor, next to the pizza box and still in their dresses, which Lando had insisted on twirling around in a lot before sitting down with his little trio. Kevin saw Marcus and Antonio, his best friend holding the Italian's hand and playing with his silky hair with the other, and Antonio had the cutest blush on his cheeks as Marcus kissed his hair. He saw Sebastian sitting with Kimi in a chair, talking animatedly and listening to the students swap stories, and for the first time, he saw Kimi smile, his husband sitting in his lap and a hand on his waist.

Everything seemed perfectly in place, like pebbles of a mosaic falling into their spots to form a beautifully unified picture. His friends, new and old, were with him, he had found love in somebody he didn't expect it from, and the club that he had begrudgingly signed up for had become his favourite part of university.

Along the way, he had found where he belonged. Kevin decided he would sign up for the drama club next year, and he wanted to work behind the scenes again. For the first time, he saw a path he wanted to go down and he had somebody by his side to go with him.

Kevin could barely wait to see what the next school year had in store for them.

**Author's Note:**

> this took soooo long for me to write. I really hope ya like it because I poured so much of my heart and soul into this fic sjdjdj, I had so much fun with it though and I'm really proud of it :)
> 
> you can find me on Tumblr @esteboo-ocon!


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